Document leads reactor recruitment efforts

Sweetwater County’s leaders are celebrating a recruitment document the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition produced to get a leg up on other counties being considered for proposed nuclear facility Rocky Mountain Power and TerraPower plan to build in Wyoming.

The document, titled “Powering the Heartbeat of America,” is 52 pages and provides an overview of Sweetwater County, highlighting education and workforce, recreation, quality of life and healthcare, as well as providing demographic information for the county and describing available properties that could house the natrium nuclear plant. The document also contains multiple letters expressing support for the natrium project being located in Sweetwater County, including letters from business and community leaders throughout the county.

The document was given to representatives from Rocky Mountain Power and TerraPower before they came to Sweetwater County for a site visit. Kayla McDonald, the economic development specialist for the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition (SEDC), said Sweetwater County was the first to submit this kind of document to the companies making the decision about the natrium project. Since then, she’s heard that Kemmerer and Glenrock are working on something similar. 

“I think we should be proud of what we have and be glad that people are listening to us and following our lead,” Commission Chairman Randy Wendling said during the July 20 county commission meeting, where McDonald and Land Use Director Eric Bingham presented the document to the commissioners and the public.

Although it was already submitted, the document contains multiple errors throughout the packet. Most of the errors in the document are typographical or grammatical in nature, such as “ocmmunity” instead of “community” and “are” instead of “our.” Other errors come from details not being changed or being repeated. On pages 8 and 9, which describe healthcare in Sweetwater County, links encouraging readers to learn more about healthcare refer to finding more information on “recreation,” which was a previous section in the packet.

Wendling pointed out during the commission meeting that the document was created in a short amount of time, but he said it was amazing how everything came together. 

McDonald explained that the packet was created in less than a week, including a holiday weekend, with about two dozen different people working on it. She said errors are bound to happen, but it was a good learning experience that showed how the SEDC and local groups can come together and work as a team. 

Leaders from TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power, including the companies’ CEOs, visited Sweetwater County June 30 and hosted a meeting with local leaders and organizations. McDonald said the companies explained the technology they want to implement in Wyoming and why it’s the first of its kind, and they made it clear that they want to move quickly.

After the meeting, the SEDC came up with the idea of putting together a proposal packet to highlight why Sweetwater County is a good choice for the project, according to McDonald. They discussed the idea with Sharon Fain, the vice president of Rocky Mountain Power for Wyoming. Fain encouraged them to put something together to give to TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power before the site visits throughout Wyoming, which occurred the week of July 12. McDonald said the SEDC met July 1 to discuss the packet and divide responsibilities, then they worked over the holiday weekend, when many people involved in the process were away on vacation, and had the packet done by July 8. The document was submitted to TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power on July 9, before the companies did their site visit in Rock Springs on July 13. 

McDonald noted that the SEDC has received positive feedback on the packet from TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power representatives.

Bingham, McDonald, and all five commissioners expressed their approval of the document during the commission meeting. 

McDonald said she is proud of the packet, and that everyone “did a very good job showing Sweetwater County and that we’re ready and willing to embrace a historic possibility here in Wyoming.” 

Wendling repeated multiple times that he believes the document is a good, “quality product,” and he is proud of it. Commissioners Jeffrey Smith and Roy Lloyd both commented that “we put our best foot forward.” 

McDonald also hopes that the packet is something that can continue to be used to promote Sweetwater County for future projects.

“There are some things that we are definitely going to improve,” she said, noting that the packet will be revised and eventually more in-depth information will be added.

Commissioner Schoenfeld also expressed her hope that the document can be used to help bring in potential industries and grow current industries. She said that even if Sweetwater County isn’t chosen for the natrium project, “we have this proposal now for anybody else that we are going to potentially try to bring into our community.” 

Anyone who wants to see a copy of the packet can check the SEDC website at sweetwateredc.org or reach out to the SEDC.